


If You Scream in a Museum and Nobody Can Hear You, Do You Make a Sound?

by justkimberley



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex is trying to find Willie, Angst, Cuddling, Fluff, Holding Hands, Hurt/Comfort, It is mainly just Willex, M/M, Movie Night, Willie is trying to cope, but that's why I put is as teens, it is not about any of the characters listed, post S1, screaming in a museum, soft gays in love, the characters are listed in the order of most to least in the story, there is a mention of a drug overdose but it's super duper minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27597184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justkimberley/pseuds/justkimberley
Summary: Willie is trying to deal with everything that has happened, the best way he knows how. By screaming in a museum about all that he's lost. Alex is poofing all over LA to try and find Willie so that he can know that Alex is okay. Will they find each other? If they do, what will happen next?
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 277





	If You Scream in a Museum and Nobody Can Hear You, Do You Make a Sound?

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've written and posted anything, over a year! This thought has been in my head for weeks. I hope you enjoy!

Willie was glad that Alex crossed over. Really, he was. He would much rather that Alex be in whatever happens in the great beyond than for him to have flickered out of existence. But… Willie was also devastated.

Willie had forgotten what it felt like to care about someone so much that it hurt. To care about someone and feel it in his chest, to think about someone all the time, to want for them to be happy, because if they’re happy, you’re happy. Willie had been a ghost for longer than he’d been alive, and Alex was the first ghost he had made an actual connection with. Sure, Willie worked for Caleb, and, at the start, he had a sort of father-son caring relationship with Caleb, but that hadn’t lasted long. As soon as Caleb had Willie’s soul, that relationship became toxic. Caleb leaching off of Willie, and Willie having nowhere else to go and no say in the matter if he wanted to be safe. Caleb had what he needed, and Willie had the protection of Caleb. It was fine. Willie had been happy enough skating through Hollywood during the day, and performing with Caleb at night. But, after he ran into Alex (literally), his afterlife had just gotten so much better.

Alex, with his pink hoodie and his constant tapping. His wide smile, and his nervous pacing, and his absolute confusion about the modern world after being in a dark room for 25 years. Thinking about Alex used to just make Willie smile. Ever since the Orpheum, that smile was bittersweet. Actually, ever since Caleb gave the boys stamps, that smile had been bittersweet. Alex himself made Willie smile, but everything that had happened to Alex because of Willie… well that was the bitter part, along with the fact that Alex had crossed over. But, he was happy for Alex, he really was. He was just… sad. And mad. And frustrated, and annoyed, and confused, and heartbroken, and just so, so, _angry_ with Caleb.

How could Caleb take advantage of lost souls like this? Willie was just a kid when he died. Willie’s still just a kid. He’s a seventeen year old kid who just wants to skate for the rest of his death, why did Caleb have to take that away from him? Alex and his band were just a group of seventeen year olds who wanted to make music and share it with the world! Why did Caleb have to take that away from them? Why did Caleb have to take more people away from Julie. _Julie_ , the lifer Willie had never met but had still grown rather fond of, just from hearing how much she meant to Alex. It felt like Julie was practically Willie’s little sister too.

And so, Willie was here at the museum, because he needed to scream, and he needed to break the rules, and he sort of felt like torturing himself by doing it somewhere that reminded him of Alex. After all, _Alex_ was the main reason that Willie had woken up to what his death could be. And _Alex_ was the main reason why Willie felt so torn up inside. And _Alex_ was the only person, living or dead, that Willie wanted to see right now. And _Alex_ was the _one_ person Willie cared about that he _knew_ he would never see again.

And, with that final thought, Willie threw his head back and screamed. Willie screamed for Alex, for the experiences that he would never get to have with Alex and for the things he would never get to do with Alex again. He screamed for his own death, and how unfair it was that he had been taken so young. For the fact that he watched his family grieve his death. For the fact that he couldn’t bear to visit his actual little sister anymore, because she was so much older than he would ever be, her kids were so much older than he’d ever be. And that it hurt too much to see them, knowing that they had no idea he was still watching over them, protecting them. He screamed about Caleb, for all of the anguish that Caleb had caused him by taking away everything he had ever cared about. For all of the souls that Caleb had stolen, and manipulated, and cheated. Willie yelled for his family, for the loss that they felt because of his own recklessness and the inattentive driver. Willie cried out for the inattentive driver, who Willie had watched slowly descend into grief over having killed a young boy. Who Willie had tried to help, tried to show that he was forgiven, but the man had died of overdose trying to cope with the guilt anyway. Willie screamed for Julie, for the fact that she had to lose four people so important to her within such a short time at such a young age.

And then Willie screamed for himself again, for the heartbreak he could feel so painfully in his chest even though he didn’t have an actual heart anymore. Willie screamed, and yelled, and fell to the floor, his voice breaking into sobs, pounding his hand against the floor, just to feel something other than the soreness in his vocal cords and the pain in his chest at all that he had lost. And, when Willie’s screaming quieted down, he heard footsteps quickly approaching him from the staircase. Willie kept sobbing while he numbly thought to himself that the guard must be finally making his rounds upstairs. For the first time today, Willie was glad to be dead, the guard wouldn’t see him, so Willie would be left alone in his misery, just the way he wanted to be.

* * *

Alex had been looking for Willie for two days. After nearly flickering out of existence and Julie’s magical hug of freedom, Carlos had walked into the studio and they found out that he could see them. That turned an already long night into an even longer night of explaining everything to Ray and Carlos, and trying to figure out how far the whole being visible thing extended. Only Julie could actually touch them though, that much they knew. They eventually reached the conclusion that anyone Julie loves could see them, and no one else could unless of course they were playing music. But, after that exhausting night was over, the boys slept like the dead (thanks for that Reggie). When Alex finally woke up he realized that he needed to find Willie because as far as Willie knew, Alex was _gone_ , and Alex needed to fix that as soon as he could.

On the first day, Alex poofed to every skatepark in LA twice, just in case Willie had gone to one after Alex had left it. On the second day, Alex checked all the places Willie had talked about, including Justin Bieber’s pool, and every place that Willie had ever taken him. The art museum, the bench where they had first talked, Hollywood Boulevard, anywhere that he could think of, but he came up empty handed. Alex took a seat on the bench in the nearly empty mall he was searching and tried to come up with somewhere else that Willie might be. He was starting to feel tired and defeated. He figured that Willie would have to lay low and hide from Caleb, considering that he had helped them get their performance at the Orpheum. Not to mention that the chances of them both being at the same place at the same time was incredibly low when there was no predetermined meeting time. LA is a big city, how would Alex ever find Willie? Alex quickly scanned the few faces left at the shopping mall one last time and then decided to go check the art museum again before he turned in for the night. He was so tired. It seemed that they needed to sleep more now that Julie could touch them. Or maybe Alex just needed to sleep more because he had spent his last two days poofing around the city and being incredibly anxious.

The museum was dark when Alex got there. When he looked through the glass door, he could see the night guard’s flashlight moving through the construction equipment on the other side of the museum, so Alex took a deep breath, prayed to whatever was out there that he would find Willie here, and walked through the door.

As soon as Alex crossed the threshold he could hear the screaming. And the security guard wasn’t reacting to it, so Alex knew that it must be Willie. Alex felt his nonexistent heartbeat speed up and a smile grew on his face as he started searching around the museum for Willie. The thing about the museum was, because of the odd architecture, it was very hard to pinpoint where the screaming was coming from, so Alex took off at a jog, listening for the screaming as he moved to see if he was getting closer.

The more Alex heard of the screaming, the faster he moved. This wasn’t the light-hearted yelling that Alex had heard when Willie brought him here. This was guttural, heart-wrenching, screaming. It was full of anguish, and pain, and anger, and Alex didn’t even feel it as he picked up the pace trying to cover more ground quicker. When Alex finally realized that the screaming was coming from an upper floor, he ran up the stairs two at a time, needing to get to Willie as fast as possible. As soon as he cleared the top step and could see past the barrier he saw Willie standing across the room, screaming at the roof with tears streaming down his face. As Alex took his first step towards Willie, Willie’s voice broke. Alex watched in horror as Willie fell to the ground, striking it with his hand over, and over, and over again, as heartbreaking sobs wrenched through his body. Alex was sprinting across the floor now, unable to say anything. His throat was choked up with emotion at seeing Willie like this, knowing that he had caused Willie this pain.

When Alex finally reached Willie, he dropped to the floor immediately and grabbed Willie’s hand to stop him from hitting the ground, causing Willie to look up in alarm, freezing as soon as he saw Alex. Alex ran his thumb over the back of Willie’s hand as he watched Willie process what was happening. Willie opened his mouth, trying to ask something, but no sound would come out, so Alex did the only thing he could think of. He pulled Willie into a hug, and ran his fingers through Willie’s hair, muttering soft reassurances as he held Willie as tight as he could without hurting him.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to find you. We’re okay, we’re all okay, Julie saved us somehow. And we’re going to figure out how to save you too. You’re gonna be okay, you’re gonna be safe, I’m gonna protect you,” Alex murmured into Willie’s hair, sighing in relief as Willie’s arms finally wrapped themselves around Alex’s body, holding Alex just as tightly as Alex was holding him.

“How are you even here? Are you real? Am I dreaming?” Willie’s voice cracked as he finally spoke, “I’ve dreamt of finding you before, but this is so real. How can my brain be this cruel. When I wake up, the feeling of you in my arms will fade and it’ll be so much worse than before,”

Alex pulled Willie closer at those words, and felt Willie’s tears on his shoulder, suddenly becoming aware of his own tears running down his face. “It’s not a dream Willie, I promise. I’m really here. We’re really okay. Julie got Caleb’s stamps off of us and we didn’t cross over, and we’re here. I won’t leave you again, I promise. I’m here, I’m here,” Alex pulled away from the hug to look Willie in the eyes, trying to prove that he wasn’t lying, only to see that Willie’s eyes were squeezed shut. “Willie, please, open your eyes, you’re not dreaming,” Alex begged, brushing his thumbs under Willie’s eyes to wipe away the tears.

“But what if I am?” Willie asked in a broken whisper, breaking Alex’s heart again.

“You’re not, I promise,” Alex replied, his throat tight, “Please?”

Alex watched as Willie slowly opened his eyes, like he was afraid that Alex would disappear, and to be fair, that’s probably exactly what he was afraid of.

“You’re really here?” Willie asked, his big brown eyes looking at Alex in shock. Alex nodded. “Oh my god, you’re here! You’re actually here!” Willie shouted, his voice breaking due to the strain of yelling earlier. He stood up abruptly, pulling Alex with him and then walked a circle around Alex, as if to make sure that Alex was totally, fully really here. “How are you here?” Willie finally asked, reaching out to touch Alex again, like he was still afraid that Alex would disappear any moment.

Alex pulled Willie to the nearest bench and they sat down together. Willie listened intently as Alex recounted the whole story of the night of their performance at the Orpheum holding Willie’s hand the whole time. How Caleb had gotten them, how Julie had called them back, how they had almost flickered completely out, and how Julie had saved them, all because Reggie had autopilot manners. And, when he reached the end of that story, he recounted how he had spent the last two days searching for Willie to try to tell him that he was okay and still here as a ghost. At the end of Alex recounting his search, Alex saw that Willie had a smile on his face. The first genuine, fully happy, content smile that Alex had seen since he had found Willie.

“There’s that smile, I missed that smile,” Alex said, mostly to himself, reaching out to brush a loose strand of hair out of Willie’s face, blushing when he realized what he had just done and that Willie definitely would have heard him.

“Aww, Hotdog, you’re going soft on me,” Willie smiled teasingly at Alex and squeezed his hand.

Alex could still see the dried tear tracks on Willie’s face, and he felt his heart clench, “Yeah, I am,” he smiled before pulling Willie into another hug, “And I am so glad that I’m here for you to see it.” Alex reveled in the feeling of holding Willie in his arms, happy to finally be there with him after two days of non-stop stress.

Willie suddenly pulled back from the hug and looked at Alex intently, grabbing Alex’s hands, “Will you be my boyfriend, Hotdog?” Willie asked confidently.

Alex blushed, and then smiled down at their hands before looking back at Willie’s eyes, “Yeah, I’d like that,” Alex watched as the biggest smile he’d ever seen filled Willie’s face, “Hey, I think that Julie and the guys were gonna have a movie night tonight, you want to join them?” Alex asked hopefully.

“Sounds like a plan, Hotdog,” Willie said before standing up and pulling Alex with him, holding hands as they poofed to the studio together.

* * *

The first thing Willie heard when they materialized in the studio was the tell-tale sound of the Universal Studios logo from a Pitch Perfect movie. The second thing he heard was five voices yelling the name of his boyfriend, followed closely by the sound of three pairs of footsteps running towards them. Willie caught up with what was happening about one second before Alex got plowed over by his bandmates, letting go of Alex’s hand as it happened so that he didn’t get taken down with them.

“We missed you buddy!” Luke said, sitting up and then giving Alex’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before pulling him to sit up.

“Yeah man, we haven’t seen you since yesterday morning,” Reggie added, patting Alex a couple times on the back.

“Alex, we’re watching Pitch Perfect, if you’re feeling up to it, I know you’ll love it. But if you have to leave early tomorrow morning to search again, we can move somewhere else,” Julie said, looking at Alex hopefully. Willie looked at her in confusion before he realized that Julie must not be able see him like she could see the boys.

Willie watched as Alex, Luke, and Reggie all looked at Julie in confusion. It seems that they also didn’t know she couldn’t see him.

“Julie, what are you talking about Willie’s right - ohhh,” Reggie said, gesturing towards Willie before he cut himself off. The other boys also realized what was happening, and then looked sheepish. Julie looked at all of them, waiting for them to fill her in, and Willie started laughing at the situation.

“Julie, I found Willie, he’s actually right there, watching us and laughing at our stupidity,” Alex said gesturing at Willie. Willie stood up taller and stopped laughing, forgetting that Julie couldn’t see him for a brief moment.

“Julie, I think it’s important for you to know that Willie just tried to make himself look more respectable to make a better impression even though he knows you can’t see him,” Reggie said, smirking at Willie, “I see what you’re doing, trying to impress the family,”

Willie felt a blush rise up on his face and looked down at his shoes.

“Well, Willie _is_ my boyfriend now, so I guess it makes sense for him to want you guys to like him,” Alex said blushing.

“Alex!” Luke yelled, shaking Alex’s shoulder, “Why didn’t you tell us! I’m so happy for you dude!”

“Well it’s not like you really gave me a chance to,”

“Welcome to the family!” Reggie said, standing up and surprising Willie by pulling him into a hug. Willie hugged him back and looked at Alex over Reggie’s shoulder in confusion. Alex just gave him a shrug and took in the praise from Julie about ‘getting his mans’. Willie loved watching how confused Alex got when Julie used modern slang.

“So, are we gonna watch the movie, or do we have to wait until tomorrow because you guys are being all mushy? I _have_ a _bedtime_ , you know!” Willie heard from behind him. The voice made Reggie let go of Willie, so Willie turned to see Reggie saunter toward a young boy who must be Julie’s brother, Carlos, if Willie remembered correctly.

“You got it little man,” Reggie said, reaching out to ruffle Carlos’ hair, but really just waving his hand through Carlos’ head a couple times.

“Woah, brain freeze,”

“Sorry dude, I forgot,”

“All good! This is still so cool!” Carlos’ shouted before running back to the couch to sit by the final person, who must be Julie’s dad.

“Okay niños, let’s all sit down and watch the movie,” Julie’s dad said, waving them to the couch and chairs. There seemed to be more chairs than the last time Willie was here, “And Willie, welcome to our house. I may not be able to see or hear you, but anyone who is special to my family is welcome here, you can call me Ray,”

Willie smiled at Ray and thanked him, even though Ray couldn’t hear him, and Alex translated.

When everyone was back in the vicinity of the TV, Carlos started the movie again and they all settled in. Alex pulled Willie over to a large armchair that was just wide enough for the two of them, as long as they cuddled. Julie, Luke, and Reggie all piled onto the end of the couch closest to the armchair, Reggie and Luke on either side of Julie, both holding her close. Carlos was on the other side of the couch to avoid another brain freeze, watching the movie with rapt attention, and Ray was on another arm chair, all to himself, watching over them all with a look of contentment on his face. He really must be the coolest dad ever to be okay with all of this.

Willie snuggled closer into Alex’s chest and smiled when Alex wrapped his arms a little tighter around Willie’s body, “I’m glad that I ran into you Hotdog,” Willie murmured into Alex’s chest.

“Me too,” Alex whispered, placing a gentle kiss on the top of Willie’s head before turning his attention to the movie.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> I hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to leave Kudos/Comments if you want, they make me really happy!  
> Also feel free to come on over to my tumblr and yell into the void @justkimberley  
> Have a great day!  
> Also like I hope y'all enjoyed my title, there are so many layers to it.


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